“I showed him some highlights of him playing and, ‘That’s you.’” Giambi said. “I said, ‘I know. I’ve been there many times, the deer in the highlights look and you’re just reeling.’ He’ll get through this just great. He’ll be fine.”

Right now, Tulowitzki doesn’t recognize the player he sees in the mirror.

Tulowitzki committed two errors Tuesday night, the second of which nearly cost teammate Jamie Moyer in his bid to become the oldest Major League pitcher ever to win a game at 49 years and 151 days. The Rockies prevailed and Moyer earned his place in history. Now Tulowitzki needs to realize that his ability to control a game from shortstop isn’t history, either.

The present isn’t looking so bright for Tulowitzki. His six errors match his total for last season, and he is hitting .244. Both of those figures are shocking for a player who has won National League Rawlings Gold Glove and Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger awards for each of the last two seasons.

Tulowitzki, who was out of the lineup for the first time this season for the Padres-Rockies game Wednesday night, admitted the mistakes — especially the throwing errors — are weighing on him. He said he has been worried about his throwing since Saturday night, when he had two throwing errors while playing in wet and cold conditions against the D-backs.

“I’m taking the field and thinking about it,” Tulowitzki said. “I never thought about defense. I just go out there and play, and if I make an error, I made an error. But I wasn’t worried about it. So, yeah, I think about it. It’s in my head. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t in my head. I think about it because I care.

“It’s never that I don’t want the ball to come to me. Once I reach that point, then I have some serious problems. I want the ball. But more or less when you’re playing catch, it’s, ‘OK, hit him in the chest,’ where before it was just throwing it to him. It’s more things like that, that I never really thought about. There’s nothing more to really say than that.”

Tulowitzki suffered a right hip flexor strain during the season’s first series at Houston, but he played through it and insisted that there is no injury that’s preventng him from performing well.

Marco Scutaro moved from second base to shortstop, the position he occupied with the Red Sox last season, and Jonathan Herrera started at second base.

In other lineup news, catcher Wilin Rosario started for the second straight game while Ramon Hernandez nursed a sore left hand. Manager Jim Tracy said Hernandez should be available Friday night when the Rockies begin a three-game series at Milwaukee.

As Rockies manager Jim Tracy left Coors Field on Monday night, he was doubtful that Tuesday night’s lineup would include left fielder Carlos Gonzalez, who was in the final stages of recovery from a case of strep throat that had kept him out of the lineup since Friday.

“We talked about it last night, how I wanted to be in there, so they were waiting on my call in the morning,” Gonzalez said. “So I called and told him I was ready to play.

“I was getting better day by day. I can’t wait to get on the field and be ready to play.”

Gonzalez returns to his customary No. 3 position in the order against the Padres and righty starter Anthony Bass.

Lefty Jamie Moyer will make his third attempt to become the oldest pitcher ever to win a Major League game. His next win also will tie him with Hall of Famer Jim Palmer for 34th on the all-time list at 268.

In a pregame player move, the Rockies sent right-handed reliever Tyler Chatwood to Triple-A Colorado Springs to work as a starter, and he could help the rotation soon. The Rockies recalled hard-throwing righty reliever Edgmer Escalona from Colorado Springs.

Just three times in nine games as the Rockies’ starting pitcher stayed in a game longer than five innings. Right-hander Jeremy Guthrie has one of the long ones, seven innings while winning the opener at Houston, and one of the short ones, 3 1/3 and six runs against although the Rockeis beat the Giants in comeback fashion.

Now Guthrie must shake off illness to give the Rockies the innings they need against the Padres on Monday night.

“He’s dealing with being a little bit under the weather,” Rockis manager Jim Tracy said. “It’s not even close to the extent with Carlos Gonzalez [who was at Coors Field and possibly able to pinch-hit, after missing two straight games with strep throat]. But he did have a little bit of a sore throat over the last day or so.

“We’re keeping an eye on that but also keeping out fingers crossed that this is one of those days where you go out there and get a Guthrie performance, where he potentially pitches you deep into a game and you can use your bullpen accordingly.”

Tonight, Tracy said the bullpen is not in bad shape. Right-hander Josh Roenicke, who went 2 2/3 inings on Sunday and an inning the previous game, is the only one definitely unavailable. Righty Esmil Rogers, who threw 62 pitches over two performances Thursday and Friday, is in play, as is righty Tyler Chatwood, although Tracy said Chatwod cannot pitch for an “extended period.”

Also, the Rockies have asked right-handed starter Jhoulys Chacin not to throw his scheduled bullpen session until later. He is available out of the bullpen in an emergency.

Is Troy Tulowitzki simply a poor April hitter or is something seriously wrong? Can someone other than Jason Marquis consistently pitch the Rockies deep into games? What will the press meal be at Coors Field? These are a sports writer’s thoughts in the middle of the night. So I woke up at 2:25 a.m. and saw snow covering my yard and car. Woke up at a normal human hour and saw more flakes falling.

Yet, this is Denver. Each time I went outside, I needed to bundle a little less. We have baseball tonight. All questions will be answered eventually.

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